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buttfunfor_everyone t1_j9zhrnk wrote

Reply to comment by Alkdmani in California Lottery stands behind $2 billion Powerball winner despite claim ticket was stolen by ILikeTalkn2Myself

The alternative is lack of transparency wherein suddenly all the people winning the lottery somehow all seem to be friends and family members of folks who work for the lottery.

Do some reading into the McDonalds Monopoly fiasco in the 90’s. The $24 million fraud was literally perpetuated by the very head of security in charge of safe-guarding/transporting the winning pieces.

Sure, naming lottery winners may suck for the winner.. they can either a) not collect the money or b) wipe their tears with millions of billions of dollars and move on.

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QubitBob t1_j9zm6mq wrote

I don't know if this holds for all states, but my state--Pennsylvania--allows lottery winners to claim the prize via trusts. In these cases lawyers representing the client claim the prize in the name of the trust, which is given a meaningless name like "Smithville Lottery Winners Trust".

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farmtownsuit t1_ja50zp7 wrote

It varies by state. Maine also allows this but a lot of states don't

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bootstrapping_lad t1_j9ztz7e wrote

I don't buy that argument. I live in an anonymous state and have never heard a single person wonder about the legitimacy of the lottery. IMO it does more harm than good.

Of course there are anomalies like McDonald's, but that doesn't outweigh the burden it places on the winners.

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buttfunfor_everyone t1_j9zuchw wrote

You don’t have to buy anything. I’m literally explaining why they do it lol

Not all states have that rule but some do and this is why. Google lottery fraud sometime and read about the many, many times it’s happened.

Edit: lmao, okay bro. Downvote me because you don’t “buy” a state law and the stated reason for having it. Are you saying lottery fraud having been perpetuated in the past is not the reason some states have that law? Or that lottery fraud has never happened? Either way.. 🙄😂😂

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bootstrapping_lad t1_ja009fg wrote

Obviously that's the reason some states have the rules - that is well known and not at issue. I'm saying that it's unnecessary and does more harm than good.

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buttfunfor_everyone t1_ja02n2i wrote

Okay.. do you have any facts, studies, stats, articles, stories-anything -to support your claim? Have you worked for a state lottery? Have some insider knowledge that we don’t?

Or did you just make your mind and state your opinion based on the assumption that doing so would somehow carry more weight than well documented historical fact?

State lotteries are run differently in every state. To make the claim that because yours is anonymous and you suspect zero issues with it is great. Maybe there’s not, but in the past and elsewhere there absolutely have been.

It’s just a strange way to engage with reality. If you do a quick cursory search online you will find a ton of examples of lottery fraud that has been perpetuated and, in response, states that have changed their laws thusly to require disclosure. Your opinion doesn’t change that.

If you think relatives knocking on your door for cash is worse than multimillion dollar fraud… 🙄

Edit: Honestly, don’t bother responding. I’m turning off notifications. Make whatever claim you want, I don’t want to spend the energy on it.

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bootstrapping_lad t1_ja067vm wrote

You must have missed where I said "IMO", which is an abbreviation for "In my opinion", in case you didn't know that.

> If you think relatives knocking on your door for cash is worse than multimillion dollar fraud… 🙄

State money is never more valuable than people's lives or right to individual privacy. Winning the lottery has a well documented negative effect on the winner's well-being including multiple cases of the winner being murdered. Some winners self implode. I'm not taking about that. I'm talking about relentless hounding by friends, family, distant relatives, organizations, and strangers. Winners have been murdered.

Let's do some of those Google searches you helpfully suggest:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/florida-lottery-winners-bill-convicted-killer-dee-dee-moore-support/

https://www.ranker.com/list/lottery-winners-tragic-ends/derrick920

https://www.abc15.com/news/state/curse-of-the-lottery-why-winning-the-mega-millions-could-kill-you

https://www.google.com/amp/s/english.elpais.com/international/2022-09-21/brazilian-lottery-winner-murdered-after-being-kidnapped-for-prize-money.html%3foutputType=amp

I'm not saying that lottery fraud is never a problem, I'm saying that we should not be shifting the burden of that onto the winners, because staying anonymous is always the best course of action for the winner. Forcing their identity to be known puts a big target on their back and that is not debatable.

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